Another Tremont CasualtyTremontTower Condo for Sale!By Heather MichelsonEnjoy condo living at its greatest! From the minute you enter the parking lot, you feel as if you're the only tenant. And you will be 66 of the 76 units are still vacant after 2 years!No need for a red carpet when the elevator has a plywood floor and the elevator permit inspection approval has been denied by the City of Houston. Think you can't afford to live here? Juliet Homes/First Texas Residential and Bernie Kane, "creative accounting superstar," will magically make it appear that your income is double to get you in, even if you have a negative net worth of $18,000. Hey what a great guy. He'll pay your first 6 months of mortgage payments, maybe 2 years of association dues, throw in a washer and dryer. He'll do whatever it takes!

Feel safe knowing a 24-hour concierge will be sound asleep in a model unit and the front doors are unlocked. Go for a late-night dip in the pool, overlooking Wendy's Drive-thru as you leisurely splash around listening to drive-thru shake, fries and burger orders, unaware that the pool too has not passed city inspection. How did you get a tan at 2:00 AM? Then you will realize it's a rust stains you picked up while lying on the rusty deck.

Think you have a voice; wait until you join the Homeowners Association. Want to serve on its board of directors? Don't hold your breath youíll have to wait until they can sell at least 50% of the building... Jorge Casimiro, the builder controls the Tremont HOA board and dictates which new tenant they can sue next, for painting lemons on their windows. If you click now you'll see my "Mold Analysis Report." If you're interested in living in 920 square feet, with mold, and have no neighbors and no voice....please respond. Units now selling for $275,000 or ask me about a deal on mine.

Mortgage fraud scheme lands 6 in jailOn Wednesday, US Marshals and attorneys lead suspects in through the back of the federal courthouse to face a ten count indictment for a mortgage fraud scheme that began in 2004. It is alleged that six people committed $25 million in mortgage fraud across Houston and its suburbs. They would then get a phony appraisal that would almost double the homes actual value. In that case, $400,000.

Families' costs mount, but state, builder give scant help, files showFor years, neighbors in a stylish Montrose cul-de-sac named Hyde Park Crescent fought to get something out of the developer they claim failed to fix faulty windows, water-soaked balconies and defective roofs that spawned leaks, mold and rot in their nearly new $350,000 homes. Families alleged in a lawsuit that they were sold flawed town homes and then stuck with thousands of dollars in repair bills. They also contended that the men behind the company committed a kind of corporate identity fraud to avoid responsibility and keep right on building on other fertile ground in construction-friendly Houston... Texas laws offer minimal recourse for homeowners, and their complaints often drag on for years with disappointing results, advocates say. Some owners lose money fixing their homes or lose their homes because they can't afford to fix them.See Houston Chronicle Readers Comments Plus: See: You Tube Video on Tremont Towers

TRCC . . the laws of Texas are against youI was in the TRCC process. I now have no home and live in an apartment. Googlel Jordan Fogal for more information on my new $360.000 uninhabitable house...I have filed a complaint against my builder Tremont/Stature/University Development or, whomever they are calling themselves this week, with the TRCC. My builder circumvented state law and the TRCC did nothing. They cant talk about this file because it is under investigation. How many years will they use that as an excuse, refusing to take action against the practices of this poster child for bad building...It is one thing to be made homeless by an act of God, like Katrina but it is totally different when it is by an act of greed.

Third Guilty Plea Comes in Texas-Based Visa Fraud ScamU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has announced a third guilty plea by a suspect connected to an international scheme to issue fraudulent visas.Norman Chapa, 52, a U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty in June 2004 to charges of visa fraud and to filing frivolous immigration petitions. Chapa admitted taking part in an international visa scam from May 1999 to January 2004.